[quote]BRUTAL Madrid riot cops were branded "animals" after they went berserk and laid into innocent Aberdeen fans with their batons.
An angry Dons supporter who witnessed the unprovoked police charge said: "They were lashing out at anyone they could reach."
One fan was beaten unconscious and spent the night in intensive care.
And hours before the police assault, a young Aberdeen fan was gang-raped by a group of locals as she walked back to her hotel in the Spanish capital.
Aberdeen FC officials are furious over the police assault on their fans outside Atletico Madrid's Vicente Calderon Stadium before Thursday night's UEFA Cup defeat.
The club's security chief, former policeman John Morgan, witnessed the mayhem.
He said: "It was disgusting and horrific. I saw a child of about 10 being hit with a baton and women were also struck.
"The Spanish officers were kicking into grounded fans. It was a sustained and unprovoked attack."
Morgan was himself knocked to the ground as the fans tried to get away from the cops.
He said: "We want to know why they felt it necessary to have 300 riot police there in the first place."
The wife of goalie Jamie Langfield was also forced to flee the violence.
The Dons yesterday made an official protest to the Spanish authorities about the conduct of the police, and the club plan to write to UEFA "as a matter of urgency".
Thetrouble outside the ground began after skinheads from the neo-fascist Frente Atletico group of hooligans staged a sneak attack on Aberdeen fans outside a bar.
The thugs, their faces hidden behind scarves and balaclavas, hurled flares at the Scots from close range then tipped a bottle bank over and began throwing bottles.
Neil McDougall, a former chairman of the Association of Aberdeen Supporters' Clubs, saw Dons fans hit by flares. "It was terrifying to watch," he said.
"We could see everything clearly and it was all sparked off by a group of about 20 Spanish supporters. The flares were thrown at Aberdeen fans from less than 10 feet away."
The Spanish yobs gave Nazi salutes and made throat-cutting gestures.
They fled after the ambush, and the riot cops turned their fury on hundreds of innocent Scots supporters.
Neil McDougall said: "The police behaved like animals. They came charging up the street, hitting out at the Aberdeen fans.
"They even laid into a man carrying a child of five or six on his shoulders.
"I have followed the Dons all over for the last 30 years and I have never seen anything so frightening or sickening."
Another supporter, Kevin Bartlett, 24, of Ellon, Aberdeenshire, added: "The police were desperate to get their batons out and hit anyone they could."
As the police attack continued, Dons fan Ian Bremner, 38, collapsed unconscious on the pavement under a hail of baton blows.
He was rushed to intensive care but had recovered well enough yesterday to be moved to a normal ward.
Ian, who lives in Denmark, had not even seen the trouble at the bar. He had just emerged from an underground station when the police charged.
Pal Lindsay Bartlett, 45, said: "It was way over the top for the police to charge at us like that. It was completely unprovoked.
"One minute we were walking towards the stadium and the next the police were coming at us with batons.
"My nephew and I got separated from Ian and we didn't know what happened to him until the next morning.
"We found out from the consulate that he was in hospital. He was in a pretty bad way."
Lindsay, of Old Aberdeen, added: "The police acted like animals. Action should be taken against the Spanish authorities."
Jamie Langfield's wife Louise was on the way to the ground with a group of friends when the cops charged. The group were forced to jump into a taxi to escape.
Langfield said last night: "I was relieved to learn she got away safely but it's disappointing that some of our fans have been hurt."
John Morgan was caught up in the chaos and was knocked over as the fans fled.
His assistant Gordon Ritchie also ended up on the pavement, as did undercover antihooliganism officers from Grampian Police who were in Spain to mingle with the crowd.
Dons director Duncan Fraser also witnessed the police onslaught. He and Morgan stayed on in Spain after the rest of the Aberdeen party flew home to lodge protests with the police and local officials.
Fraser said: "We are not happy with the way the fans were treated.
"It appears they have been victims of an indiscriminate and sustained attack by the Spanish police.We will carry out a thorough investigation."
An Aberdeen FC spokesman said Morgan and Ritchie were working closely with the British Consulate in Madrid and Grampian Police.
He added: "We are still in the process of documenting everything that occurred - in particular, the way some of our fans were treated outside the stadium.
"As far as we can ascertain, Ian Bremner is the only supporter to have been hospitalised as a result of trouble.
"Thankfully, he is now out of intensive care and is on the mend."
Reports in Spain said 17 people were hurt before the match and police made 11 arrests.
The Dons spokesman said: "Significantly, there are no reports of any Aberdeen fans being arrested. We will be submitting a detailed report to UEFA over the course of the next few days."
A spokesman for First Minister Alex Salmond said he was concerned about what had happened and was awaiting full details.
Around 6000 Dons fans travelled to Madrid but the club were only given 3000 tickets.
The Dons were told at a UEFA meeting on Thursday that the game was a sellout, but there were thousands of empty seats inside the stadium at kick-off.
Mum of two Debs Ironside, of Kingswells near Aberdeen, suffered a broken arm, a gash to her head and severe bruising when she fell down steps inside the ground.
As well as the violence before the match, Aberdeen are deeply concerned about the gang-rape of one of their fans.
The young woman was grabbed by a group of local men in the early hours of Thursday as she returned to her hotel in Madrid's trendy Puerto del Sol district.
The victim, in her 20s, had become separated from her friends minutes before the assault. She managed to stagger back to her hotel after the rape and raise the alarm.
Spanish detectives have taken a statement from the woman and she has been examined by doctors. A spokesman for the British Consulate said: "We can confirm we have assisted a Scottish woman in connection with an alleged gang rape in the city centre[quote]
